Holding You
by VaingloriousHound
Summary: "Because Love, it is what you do best. It is what makes you strong. What makes me strong. So, let me Love you, Harry, because that's what I want to do."


**Holding you**

 _"Fallen Angel, close your eyes, I won't let you fall tonight-" Three Days Grace, Fallen Angel_

Even as Harry ducked out of sight the curse struck his side, leaving a vicious gash down his right. The curse left his lips unheard, the silencing charm around him still strong. He ignored whatever had torn him open, Luna was still hanging there above the veil. If he couldn't get to her then he needed her to get to him. Something blew up behind him and Harry was initially thankful for the boost the shock wave provided but soon found himself assaulted by a hail of stone that had once belonged to the wall behind him.

Tom was still kneeling in front of the veil, chanting whatever incantation needed to enact his sick plan. And just that put Harry between a rock and the literal gate to the afterlife. It wouldn't matter if he'd get Luna down from there if Tom tore open the bloody veil!

Bellatrix sneered a curse at him but she had severely underestimated Harry's desperation. He took the curse head on, not even flinching as the bone-breaker shattered his collar bone and cleaved the mad woman in half with an overpowered cutting curse. McNair was stunned by the display and never even had a chnce to avoided the transfigured lance of stone that pierced his skull.

Harry leapt over a fallen column, coincidentally landing besides the elder Malfoy. A vicious grin of glee hushed over Harry's face before he quickly transfigured the stone at Lucius' feet into water and returned it to stone when the man had fully sunken in. He would not rest in piece. Evidently Malfoy had been the one to levitate the chains that had held Luna aloft, as she suddenly began descending.

" _Accio!_ " he bellowed over the sound of the roaring fire Ginny was conjuring behind him to ward off the swarm of Death Eater thugs. Luna's fall curved suddenly and she zoomed into Harry's waiting arms.

Hermione finally breached the translucent barrier ceiling of the chamber, the order and a mass of Aurors began pooling into the room as it fizzled out. Tom growled in supreme annoyance and a casual flick of his wrist eviscerated a dozen men as if they were lambs to the slaughter. Lighting broke through the hole in the ceiling, impacting before Tom, who didn't as much as blink at it while the chamber shook.

Harry backpedaled, painfully aware of the state of his collar bone under Luna's weight. Ginny reached his side and hit him with a quick healing spell that set the bone straight with a painful crack.

"Come on!" she urged hoarsely, "Ron secured the outside! We need to move before the trolls get past his wards!"

Harry nodded mutely, still gritting his teeth im pain.

From the Lightning strike, Dumbledore emerged and with an all too casual and soft wave of his wand, two dozen of Death Eaters dropped dead, their hearts transfigured to stone in an instant.

"Tom," he greeted with a small bow while his wand executed a minuscule twist that felled Ranbanastre Lestrange, his head banished to an unknown location.

"Do not use that name!" Tome sneered, a wave of his hand summoning a wall of fire that surrounded him and the elder wizard. "Now we will finish this!"

Dumbledore's eyes were hard. He knew what to do. For Ariana. For Gellert.

For Harry.

"Indeed." The room bristled with electricity. "This is your end, Tom."

The way was clear, Ginny half running half dragging Harry and Luna through the trembling hallway towards the elevator. They rushed inside, passing Remus as he still upheld his patronus to keep the Dementors out. "Quick!" he bellowed at them, "There are even more trolls now. Ron can't keep this up forever!" He worriedly glanced down the opposite hallway from where he stood. "Tonks doesn't have much left either."

"Don't worry, Professor," Harry assured him breathlessly as they drew the elevator doors shut, "Hermione breached the ceiling, the order is on the way."

"And Dumbledore is keeping Tom busy," Ginny added, "Everything is going as planned."

Remus grunted and nodded. "Then go, end this madness!"

"We will," Harry said, his unshaken confidence lifting the older man's heart. He pulled Luna closer to him. "We will," he whispered to her.

The lift took off and for a split second Harry wished they hadn't charmed to move even faster. The ride was nauseating, Harry stumbled into the lobby and had to blink spots out of his vision. They hurried down the stairs, past the ruined statue and towards the gates when Harry's insides suddenly turned to ice.

 _Dementors_ , he acknowledged grimly and pulled out his wand. Luna whimpered softly against him and Harry growled in anger. Recalling all their happy moments together, he cast the charm, stronger than ever.

 _"Because they don't understand you, Harry Potter."_

 _"Well I liked it. Needs sugar, though."_

 _"Otherwise I could just hold your hand, you know? To keep the Nargles away."_

 _"I made it for you, dummy! Because you are important to me and important people can't have Wrackspurts messing with their heads!"_

 _"Because I believe in you, Harry."_

 _"Because I want you near me."_

 _"Because I like you."_

 _"I love you, Harry. And no Dark Lord, no prophecy is ever going to change that. That also means that the Nargles can't take you so you have to stay closer to me now."_

 _"Love me, Harry."_

 ** _"Expecto Patronum!"_**

From the tip of his wand erupted a massive stag, far bigger that it had ever been before. Silvery eyes, eyes that belonged to no other than the girl in his arms briefly locked with his before it burst forward, its from blending to a rush of silver that barreled into a mass of Dementors that crept through the breach Tom had made into the lobby to gain entry. It was the rest of them, the escapees from the last nest Dumbeldore destroyed. And there were many. The stag broke out of the stream of silver and leapt right into them. A powerful wave of silver exploded forwards, pushing hundreds over hundreds of Dementors back. Belatedly, Harry noticed that Ginny's lioness also joined the fray.

But there were too many.

Harry was exhausted, the last week of fighting and running rapidly catching up to him as he felt his arm tremble under the strain of merely holding it up. Gritting his teeth, Harry focused all he had into the spell. If they fell here, Tom would live on. Luna, still hanging in his left arm, suddenly woke. She didn't seem surprised or scared, her expression soft and kind. Reaching up she twisted Harry's head, kissing him softly before he could so much as blink. If possible, Harry's patronus grew stronger yet, suddenly reducing one of the foul creatures to noting but dust.

With a rueful smile, Luna let the magic take over. Her silver eyes bled into solid gold and The Seer nodded blankly at Harry. The young man had never been fond of these transitions, seeing Luna switch with this otherworldly being. But then, Luna's left eye returned to silver and a benevolent smile graced her lips. She placed her left hand atop Harry's right, standing chest to chest with him. They peered into the others eyes and Harry nodded lightly. He knew what they wanted to do.

Luna, The Seer, she smiled and whispered, "Grant thy strength..."

His arm was on fire. Power flowed into his veins, literally turning them a golden color underneath his skin. His wand and his eyes, they lit up in a shining golden color just moments before Prongs erupted into a mass of golden energy, his antlers tripling in its brightness. One gold and one silver eyes, the majestic creature turned and looked at Harry and Luna.

 _"Because Love, it is what you do best, Harry. It is what makes you strong. What makes me strong. So, let me Love you, Harry, because that's what I want to do."_

Luna's words left in the furious wind that suddenly rushed through the chamber, the stag slowly stalked forward, engulfed in an aura of the purest of lights. Dementors, each and every single one of them, as soon as the light so much as grazed their cloaks, they were set ablaze in a golden flame, purifying the souls that were shackled inside of them. The stag reared once, the light growing brighter and brighter, before it dissolved into golden dust and fled into the wind.

They fell to their knees, both of them entirely too drained to stand at the moment. Luna smiled at him, tilting her head ever so slightly. "Fancy meeting you here, Harry."

He snorted, laughed as she smiled serenely at him. Breathing heavily, Ginny huffed and walked on ahead. They would follow eventually.

"Why fancy it is," Harry said, "But I did intend to take you to dinner, not..." He waved helplessly all around them.

Luna shook her head. "This is fine," she said, looking deep into his eyes. "As long as you hold me, I will be fine. Even in hell."

"Good," Harry said, kissing her softly, "because I'm afraid, that's were we're going."


End file.
